


Deal

by watanukitty



Series: Sauntering Vaguely Downwards (For You) [1]
Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/M, Good Omens AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 00:30:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3916444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watanukitty/pseuds/watanukitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diaval encounters an errant demon, if there is such a thing. Maleval Good Omens AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deal

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on tumblr

In the beginning...well, Diaval didn't really know what happened in the beginning. He wasn't there. He came into Being some time after, just in time to see Earth get more than its fair share of water*. And that's the deal with not being present at certain events, he supposes. All he heard were stories. They're all well versed in the chronicles of Creation or whatever they called it these days, but still, he would have liked to see how the whole shebang with the Tree and the Fruit actually went down.

There were other stories too, dealing more with their lot than with the humans. Stories of betrayal and envy and loss, of wings being stolen. Diaval shuddered at the thought. He couldn't imagine his existence without wings, they were as integral to his essence as any other. He knows that they were punished, the angels involved, knows that they Fell. He knows that that story would rather be forgotten. He also knows, deep in his core, that this story haunts him most. He knows that he'll never know the reason why.

Perhaps, he thinks, it's because the wings were never found.

\----

He'd been permanently assigned to Earth. Well stuck, more like. He's not complaining.

(He's been getting commendations, even though they don't know that he just decided to sneak past the gates when no one was looking that one time and that he got his assignment because the other angel failed to show up, and well, it became a long time thing. He can't hear Choir practice from all the way here, too, so there's also that.)

And really, it's been interesting so far. People are fascinating creatures (aside from birds, that is) and they write /books/. Good stuff, Diaval thinks. He's honestly liking it here.

He'd like it better though, if demons don't randomly show up and interrupt his activities.

"Oi" he said, eyeing said demon with as much contempt as he could manage. "Why'd you do that?" He had transformed into his favorite raven form to carry a book from the castle library, because flying can get him anywhere faster. He didn't see the farmer that appeared behind the bushes, and before he knew it, he's already trapped in a nest.

But he had the entire situation under control, thank you very much.

"Would you rather I let him beat you to death?" she retorted, her eyes glowing in the dim afternoon light. She jutted out her chin in defiance, challenging him to reply.

"I--I won't die," he said. Not really. But he will have a lot of explaining to do Upstairs on how he got a corporeal body and why he's even down here in the first place. Truthfully, she saved him from two different kinds trouble, but he won't tell her that. And since when did demons save _things_ anyway?

"And!" Diaval started, "You forced my transformation! I'm tainted. What have you done to my beautiful self?" The farmer called him a _demon_ too, of all things.

The she-demon rolled her eyes. "That was just a minor thing. I'm sure you can handle that with very little effort," she drawled.

"Oh, I will," Diaval promised. "I will also _thwart_ whatever it is you're doing."

She raised her eyebrow at that.

"Bet you're a succubus. Trying to suck life out of men. Or you're heading to a Church to desecrate Holy Ground," he listed, following her as she began to walk away from him, clearly uninterested now. "Whatever it is, consider it stopped." Diaval said.

"I'm looking for something," said the demon. 

"An instrument of evil, definitely. Er. What is it?"

What she said next made him stop in his tracks.

"I'm looking for my wings."

\----

Strange demon, that one. Diaval's been trailing her for the best part of a month, but she seemed utterly disinterested in corrupting the hearts of men.

"They're perfectly fine in doing it on their own," she told him one rainy afternoon. He gave up following her after she spotted him roosting on a tree and joined her as she wondered around the village.

"You're still looking for them, your wings?" he asked. 

"Yes."

He nodded, mostly to himself. He knew there was something amiss the first time he saw her. He's sure she added the horns to her own fancy, but the space where her wings should be is empty. He could tell which demons were once angels, and angels, Fallen or not, all have wings. 

So why doesn't she?

Realization dawns on him. "You're her. The angel whose wings were stolen."

"Was," she said. "I'm a demon now," she stated. And even though her horns are hidden and she's disguised as a human, Diaval can smell the brimstone and the sulphur on her. He can feel the fiery halls of Hell on her skin and can hear the screams of the tormented on her footsteps. She is a demon, through and through.

And yet...

"You don't...act like one," Diaval attested. She doesn't meddle, she doesn't corrupt, she doesn't temp. She doesn't seem concerned in bringing ruin to this planet.

"If there were standards passed on how a demon should act, I am not aware of and I do not care about them."

Right, Diaval thought. "You're only concerned about your wings."

"Yes."

"Look," he said, an idea forming in his head. "If I were to say I'd help you find them, would you agree?"

She stopped walking and gave him a pointed look. "You're going to help a demon?"

"In a manner of speaking," Diaval said. "Under the condition that you act normally after we find what we're looking for." She was a demon, as she'd said. She wasn't going to get away with this for /free/.

The she-demon stared at him disbelievingly. "'Normal' as in..."

" _As in_ you would begin to do whatever it is typical demons do. And I get to stop them." Desperate times call for desperate measures. He badly needed a job as a reason to stay.

She considered his offer for a moment. "I've seen other angels do worse things," she mused. "Alright then."

Diaval grinned, and held out a hand. When she didn't move he said, "it's a human custom."

"I know. We're not human." She stated flatly.

He held back his hand gingerly and frowned. Turns out he's the only one adapting to the environment. "Er, yeah. Do we have an agreement?"

She nods, and that was that**, he guessed. He could possibly get in trouble for this, but then again, he supposed he already was in trouble for wandering about too much. He mulled over this for a moment and found her walking, already a few feet away from where he stood. He ran to catch up and called out to her as an afterthought. "Wait for me! And you never told me your name!"

She stopped to wait for him and turned her head slightly in his direction once he got near.

"Maleficent. My name's Maleficent."

\----

They found her wings in a catacomb, hidden in the depths of a frozen mountain range. Whoever hid it did a thorough job: it was surrounded by all kinds of wards and protective sigils.

(Diaval doesn't know if breaking and entering warrants for Falling, but at least he didn't actually /commit/ it, he just stood there and watched as Maleficent broke the barrier. He supposes that being 'guilty by association' will be the item listed on his tab of offenses somewhere.)

The two of them sat side by side and watched the sun rise over the mountains when it's all over. Diaval's eyes dart back and forth between the sky and Maleficent wings. They grew sharp, pointed horns at the joint tips when they reattached themselves to Maleficent's back, yet they were the most magnificent pair of wings that Diaval has ever seen, counting even his own. The shadow over Maleficent's face disappeared the moment she got them back, and they made her, dare he say it, even more beautiful than she already was.

"So I suppose it's back to Hell for you then," Diaval said, breaking the silence. The sun has fully risen now, and the sky is painted a multitude of colors that he always loved seeing. The view is always greater from here, he thought.

"Do you really think I like it down there?" Maleficent asked, not taking her eyes off the horizon.

"No, I imagine not," Diaval replied. Their shared silence resumed, lasting for a couple of minutes before Diaval spoke again. "So what now?"

Maleficent doesn't answer. Her eyes are glued to the sunlight, reflecting all the colors it gives out. "I suppose I can stick around," she murmured with a shrug. 

"And besides," she continued, turning to Diaval and finding his gaze, locking her eyes with his. "We have an Arrangement, do we not?" she said, her mouth twisting in a smirk.

He held her gaze and smiled.

That they do. That they do indeed.

\------  
* Diaval's first job ever was as a dove, tasked to bring back an olive branch. It was easy enough as first jobs go, but even then he knew that white was NOT his color.

** She figures out a better way in sealing demon deals after spending much time observing humans. It was a way to bring her big lips to evil use, she thought. It became a trend with all the crossroads demons, and grew to be a staple of demon-dealing over time. Maleficent got a commendation for it.


End file.
